


Summer with the Family

by MurdersintheMorgue



Category: Les Misérables (2012), Les Misérables - All Media Types, Les Misérables - Schönberg/Boublil
Genre: Don't Judge Me, Enjolras has siblings, M/M, and Combeferre has too many sisters, and brother issues, and grantaire can't pity him, but that's later, i wrote this at four in the morning
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-08-03
Updated: 2013-08-07
Packaged: 2017-12-22 07:15:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/910427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MurdersintheMorgue/pseuds/MurdersintheMorgue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Grantaire and Jehan join Combeferre, Courfeyrac and Enjolras to their respected homes and families for the summer. <br/>During the trip they meet siblings, family members and a high school friend they never really mentioned for mysterious reasons.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. And so it Begins

**Author's Note:**

> They have first names!!  
> So   
> Davet Enjolras  
> Pierre Grantaire  
> Julian Combeferre  
> Ivan Courfeyrac

As the prius pulls into the large circle drive way, Enjolras lets out a heavy sigh, tapping on the wheel. The car comes to a stop, and the blonde turns it off, slumping back in the driver seat and looking up at the large white house from around Combeferre's sympathetic face.   
"It'll be okay." The bespectacled man whispers. Enjolras shakes his head, running his hand through his hair and looking over the shoulder of his seat to gaze at the three sleeping figures in the back. Grantaire is slumped against the window, lips slightly parted, cheeks red and curls sticking to his forehead, a result of the sunny route they had taken. Enjolras was stuck by the thought of how much the man he loved resembled a small child in this state.   
Courfeyrac and Jehan where leaning into each other, Jehan's head on the taller man's shoulder, Courfeyrac's head tilted back a little, mouth open and breathing loudly. Jehan's face was in a somewhat similar state of heat as Grantaires, but Courfeyrac seemed to have been saved from the summer sun.   
"I don't want to wake them." The blonde admitted finally. Combeferre followed his friend's gaze and hummed in agreement, reaching out to brush a strand of Jehan's hair off his forehead. The poet started a little, eyes twitching.   
Courfeyrac woke with a loud snore, head snapping up and eyes blinking slightly, causing his two conscious friends to jump just slightly at the action. The man made smacking noises with his mouth and he turned his gaze out the window.   
"We're here." He said, voice sore from sleep. Enjolras nodded, and Combeferre reached out to shake Jehan's knee slightly. The ginger haired man hummed, eyes fluttering open slightly, and he offered his lover a sleepy smile, which was returned.   
Enjolras turned his gaze upon Grantaire who it seemed had curled into himself upon these short moments and his neck bent at an awkward angle. The blonde reached out to flick his boyfriend's nose, which gained him a groan.   
"Gonna sleep mor', can't stop me." The artist mumbled, seeming to burrow his face into the car door. Courfeyrac snorted and Grantaire waved a hand in his general direction before curling into himself again.   
"R we're here, we gotta get out of the car." Enjolras said with a bemused smile.  
"I wanna sleep." The man whined in return. Huffing, Courfeyrac reached out to lightly push his friend's shoulder.   
"Get up you big oaf, you can sleep on a real bed inside."  
Grantaire smiled to himself, eyes still closed.  
"That sounds nice." He muttered. Enjolras sighed and rolled his eyes, getting out of the car and making his way to the trunk, opening it and starting to remove the bags shoved in. Combeferre and Courfeyrac soon joined him, Jehan hanging from Combeferre's arm with tired eyes and slow movements.   
"Grantaire." Enjolras called, kicking the car door. Said man groaned in return. Enjolras opened the car door and his boyfriend slumped out, seat belt digging into his neck uncomfortably.   
"I hate you." Grantaire mumbled into Enjolras's pant leg, finally unbuckling and standing up. The blonde merely patted his lover.   
"Love you too." He said cheerfully. 

And suddenly there was a loud cry from the entrance of the grande house, catching everyone's attention.   
"You grew up here?" Enjolras heard Grantaire breathe before a small person with bright red curls came barreling his way, slamming into his torso, causing him to stumble a few steps back and let out a little 'oof' sound.   
"Davet oh my god I thought I would never see you again it was terrible and then Avril was all no no he'd love to see you so I came home as fast as I could oh my god why did you answered my emails you asshole!"  
It as a short girl with a round face with millions of freckles and flashing green eyes, and she was hitting Enjolras's chest now. The man, to Grantaire's great surprise, laughed and caught the girl's wrists, restraining her as she struggled.  
"To be fair, you didn't send me any emails to begin with." The blonde retorts. The girl rolls her eyes, sticking her tongue out at him, then turned to where Combeferre and Courfeyrac stood. She attacked each in a similar fashion, causing Jehan to gravitate back to his still slightly traumatized friend.  
"Indra Jesus I thought we'd never see you again!" Courfeyrac had exclaimed upon recognizing the girl. She sighed and nodded, arms still wrapped around him. He was a whole head taller than her, her face burrowed in his chest.   
"I know I was so lonely without my dears! I didn't have anyone to make fun of!" She wailed, moving to greet Combeferre, who returned the fierce hug with a laugh.   
"I did answer your emails though." The philosopher retorted. The girl hummed happily, looking up and him.   
"I know, you're my favorite."  
The comment made Jehan bristle and Courfeyrac let out a little wounded noise. Indra waved a hand at the brunette man, directing her gaze to Grantaire and his poet friend, who still stood awkwardly by the open trunk of the car.  
"And who are these lovely men?" She squealed, clapping her hands to her face.  
"This is my partner, Jehan." Combeferre said with a wave of his hand, reaching to pull said man to his side, pressing a kiss to the ginger's temple. Indra grinned, a gap between her front teeth, and stuck out her hand stiffly.   
"I'm Indra, these doofus' high school bffl and survival method."  
"Survival method." Enjolras mocked under his breath, mocking, and Grantaire laughed a little, snatching his boyfriend's hand.   
"And this is Pierre Grantaire, my boyfriend." The blonde called, and Indra spun on her heel after shaking Jehan's hand, offering Grantaire a similar fashion.   
"Call me R, most do." Grantaire responded almost automatically, accepting her hand.  
"What a pleasure to meet you all, and you're both so attractive, good job loves. But I do need to remind you that you owe me fifty each~." She sang the last of her sentence, spinning a little and dancing on the balls of her feet, shit eating grin plastered on her face. Her gaze then turned back to Courfeyrac, and she paused to raise a pale brow, "What, no partner from you?"  
Courfeyrac grinned, "Nope, I'm as free as a bird."  
Indra rolled her eyes at him, tching in his general direction.   
"Well, come my friends, let's get you settled, I need to catch up with you and meet these darling new victims you have brought me, and I have some news for you all!"   
She attempted to help with the bags but Enjolras waved her off, which gained him a pout and a shrug.   
"Can you believe she's actually twenty three?" The blonde muttered, more to himself, as they made their way up to the grand house. Grantaire heard the statement none the less and breathed out a huff of a laugh.   
"Jesus, twenty three? I thought she was like, at most nineteen." The artist replied. Enjolras shrugged.  
"She hasn't changed since sophomore year." Combeferre noted almost fondly, watching the girl giggle with Courfeyrac as the two entered the house.   
"That was when-" Enjolras began, and Combeferre hummed affirmative.   
"When what?" Jehan piped up.   
"Nothing, nevermind." Enjorlas responded hastily, ushering his friends into his house. Grantaire wanted to push with it further but any words he could have hoped to form died in his throat when they entered the house, the grandness of the place consuming his every thought.

 

 

 

 

 

Avril was Enjolras's mother, a kind but sharp women with a taunt smile and dull blue eyes. She greeted them all accordingly, smiling and shaking hands with Grantaire and Jehan, before excusing herself and disappearing in the large house. Enjolras seemed slightly bothered by the actions but relented with a tour of the house, accompanied with input from Indra, who felt the need to come up with a story for practically every room they came across.   
"And this-" Courfeyrac interrupted as they approached a white door connected to the kitchen, pushing in front of Enjolras and Indra to open the thing with a flourish, "Was where we spent out lives."  
The door opened to reveal a staircase, which upon descending, opened to a large dull room, smelling just slightly of mildew and old fabric. A worn sofa sat in the middle, infront of a very old tv and a worn coffee table. A large circle table stood towards the back of the place, four chairs pushed in neatly around it. The light came from a couple of hazardously plugged in light bulbs dangling from the ceiling. The carpet was a gross tan color, and in the far far back up against the wall behind the table stood a book shelf full of old dusty board games. A desktop computer was placed randomly on the floor next to an outlet, in easy access from the circle table, Grantaire had to notice.  
And the walls were covered in paper.   
Drawings of monsters and characters, hand created maps and marked ones of the world. There were ticked stubs and pamphlets for various things, cut outs from magazines and children's drawings.   
"Our whole life up until we left is pasted onto these walls." Enjolras mused softly. Combeferre laughed in agreement, pacing up to run a hand along a glossy surface of one of the random advertisements, a sign for some school play.   
"That's where we knew Combeferre was gay." Courfeyrac announced gleefully and Indra laughed, high fiving her friend.  
"Frick yeah we did." She said softly.   
"Wow this is..." Grantaire trailed off, pacing closely by the wall and stopping at a photograph of a teenage Enjolras hunched over an older desktop, seemingly where the newer desktop had been placed. His face was focused on the screen but he was obviously bespectacled with those large clear glasses they wore in the seventies and his mouth was open as though he had been caught in the middle of one of his rants, mouth open wide and braces revealed. His infamous locks had yet to have grown out, and was slightly oily and shaggy looking, a few stray strands falling into his eyes.   
"Oh my god." The pictured man groaned behind him, and Grantaire smiled at the warm arms that encircled his waist, "I forgot that existed."  
There was a loud squeal from farther down the room where Indra and Courfeyrac had gravitated.   
"Burn it! We need to burn it oh my god!" Courfeyrac was wailing while Indra cackled herself into a silly. The four students wandered over.   
Courfeyrac was referring to a picture of him, Enjolras, Combeferre and Indra grinning awkwardly in formal wear. Courfeyrac seemed to have a really bad case of acne and Combeferre's hair was gelled down in a ridiculous manner. Both Enjolras and Combeferre had glasses that didn't quite fit their faces and Indra and Enjolras had braces, making Indra's awkward smile even funnier, as she was attempting to hide her teeth.   
Although, now that Jehan took a closer look at it, it appeared Enjorlas was not grinning but in fact in the middle of talk again, mouth open in a way that made it appear that he had been smiling.   
Courfeyrac was covering his face, bemoaning about how awful he had looked that particular month.   
"Not always the lady killer then, were you?" Jehan teased, poking his friend's stomach. Courfeyrac grimaced as Indra started laughing even harder.  
"I- Ive-" She sputtered, leaning on Courfeyrac slightly, who huffed and shoved at her fondly, "Ivan a lady killer. Oh my god." The girl continued to cackle.   
Jehan blinked, feeling a little put out of place, and found comfort in Combeferre's hand, which had snaked out to meet his.   
There was then a loud stomping from above and thundering down the stairs. The group turned to see a boy who seemed to be about seventeen standing, hanging off the edge that hung over the staircase. He was practically a smaller copy of Enjolras, but face a little squarer and hair cut short, glasses sliding down his nose.   
"Hey Davet." He grinned, and there appeared a dimple that Enjolras did not have.   
The man in question smiled timidly, nodding and waving a little.   
"Hey Henri. How are you doing?"   
The teenager shrugged, swinging a little, "Nothing as interesting as your life, I'm sure."   
He seemed kind of shy, eager to get away from all the peering eyes at him.   
"Henri, come here, meet my friends." Enjolras called, waving the boy over.   
"I already know your friends." The teenager called, but made his way towards the group of people anyway.   
"You remember Ivan and Julian, right?" Enjolras began, waving at his two mentioned friends. Henri nodded slightly, waving at them shyly. They returned his smile.   
"And these are Jehan and Pierre, Julian and my partners." The blonde continued cautiously, watching the boy's face, wondering what his reaction would be. But he didn't seem to react abnormally in anyway, merely giving them the same treatment he'd giving Combeferre and Courfeyrac.   
"Call me R." Grantaire interjected softly, and Henri's grin faltered.  
"I don't get it." He said quietly. Before Grantaire could go on, Enjolras turned to his group of friends.   
"Guys, this is my little brother, Henri."  
"I didn't know you had a brother." Jehan gushed after an awkward moment, and Enjolras's face grew slightly uncomfortable as Henri looked at him with a critical brow.   
"We also have two little sisters." The teenager announced, gaze still on Enjolras.   
Grantaire couldn't help but grow amused at the whole exchange. He'd never seen this side of his god, the side where he could get uncomfortable by the gaze of another.   
"Half sisters." Enjorlas mumbled.   
"Sisters non the less." Henri said with an undertone of anger. He finally rolled his eyes and sighed, "Whatever, it's not like I expected you to have mentioned me or anything. Obviously saving the world is more important."  
And thus he stomped away.   
Enjolras looked as though he'd been stricken.   
Grantaire immediately decided he liked this kid. He'll have to become closer with the guy. They could bond over being pushed aside for the rest of the population and such.  
Indra began to giggle again, and soon the whole group were laughing merrily. 

 

 

Courfeyrac, Combeferre and Jehan had gone to their own homes, explaining that they lived right next door to each other and that they'd be staying between the three houses.   
Indra told Grantaire how she'd moved back to Lithuania with her mother and two friends after graduation high school, that she was co running a bed and breakfast there with mentioned two friends. She would be staying at Enjolras's house with them for the next two weeks, but then she'd be driving out to Providence to visit her little sister.   
Avril, Grantaire discovered, had been married twice after being widowed from Enjolras and Henri's father. She had been young when she'd had the two boys, just barely out of high school, and the two boys had mostly been raised by au pairs, their father having been rich and prosperous in his job and mother wanting to go study design at FIT. During her second marriage she had twin girls, Natalii and Noel.  
Natalii and Noel's father was a loud happy Russian man named Yvon, who had come home late, delying dinner slightly, leaving the family and guests sitting at the table for a while without anything to do.   
Henri and Noel seemed to be in some kind of silent argument across Grantaire's lap, and the artist wanted nothing more than to crawl over to Enjolras, who sat across from him at the wide table. But he was in a heated argument with Indra about the economy in the middle east and didn't seem to hear the pleas Grantaire was trying to send him through their mind link.   
Dear god he wished they had a mind link.   
Natalii watched him from where she sat on Enjolras's other side.   
"You love Davet, right?" The girl suddenly piped up, and her two siblings who had been fighting paused, looking up at the raven haired man. Grantaire paused for a moment, studying their faces. Natalii and Noel had light brown mousy hair instead of the blonde curls Henri and Enjolras seemed to share with their mother, but their eyes were still the same piercing blue.   
"I love him more than you could even know." Grantaire said softly, playing as though it was a secret, glancing at the spoken of man. He was still in heated discussion with Indra, who seemed stubborn and to just not accept what he was saying, rolling her eyes at his arguing tactics.   
"Are you gonna love him forever?" Noel asked, wide eyed. Grantaire smiled down at her.   
"For forever and after." He said decisively. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Avril smiling contentedly, looking down at her hands in her lap. 

Eventually Yvon appeared, seating himself at the head of the table, next to Noel and Avril, signalling that they could dig in now.   
"So Grantaire, I've heard you've been doing well with your art?" Yvon began, chewing thoughtfully around a bone of chicken. The mentioned man nodded shyly.   
"I uh, I've been doing better than I thought, that's for sure." He said softly.   
"Are you kidding? You're doing amazing Grantaire!" Enjolras interjected, turning to Yvon, "He's had three shows in the last two months, and has sold about ten paintings!"   
Yvon nodded, smiling.   
"That is something. You know, Henri wants to study art."   
Enjolras seemed to freeze, turning to his brother, who was intensely staring at his plate of food.  
"Art." Enjolras repeated.   
"Well, film really." Henri whispered.   
"I though we had a plan, Henri."   
The boy laughed humorlessly.   
"You had a plan, Davet. I have dreams. I don't care about law, I want to make pieces that will be remembered in the end."   
Enjolras sputtered.   
"What I do will be remembered in the end! I'm changing the world, we help people Henri. Don't you want to help people too?"  
"Enj-" Grantaire tried to interject, trying to save the poor kid, but Enjolras held up a hand to silence him. Indra slumped a little in her chair.   
"I don't care about helping people. I want to make things, Davet. Not try to fix something that will never be fixed."   
Enjolras scoffed.  
"They will be fixed if we try hard enough! Henri our actions could go down in history, and you want to throw it all away because you want to play with a camer-"  
"We're not going to have a Victor Hugo to document out great efforts, Davet." Henri roared, interrupting and startling the whole company. He stood angrily, pushing his plate away, "I'm not playing with a camera!" He yelled, waving his arms around, and Grantaire knew this feeling, he knew this scene all too well, "I'm doing something I like, okay? I want to make things that move people, that people actually remember in the end. Because they're not going to remember some stupid protest that turned violent, Davet, they're going to remember the movie that they always watched as a kid, or the movie they like to watch when they're sad, the movie that made them cry for the first time-" Henri's voice was wavering, and he huffed a sigh, turning to Avril.   
"May I be excused?"   
She still had her mouth open a little in shock, but closed it quickly, nodding and waving him away.   
"Put your plate in the sink." Was all she said.   
He left the room.   
Enjolras looked stricken again, and Grantaire wanted to pity his lover, but he really was just shocked at what had just happened.   
Yvon finally cleared his throat.   
"So, Indra, how are you doing now a days?"


	2. The Combeferre Base

Combeferre's house wasn't quite as big as Enjolras's, but still quite large. Jehan clung to his boyfriend's hand as they dragged their bags up to the front door, Combeferre ringing the doorbell then smiling at his poet reassuringly. The door's opened by a young girl who couldn't possibly be any older than thirteen with short blonde curls and wearing a princess crown on her head. Jehan blinked and moved slightly when the girl jumped up to hug Combeferre, who caught her easily as though he'd expected this, along with the shrill shriek that accompanied it.   
"Julian's home!" The girl screamed, and there was a lot of shuffling and hurried steps. Eventually two teenage girls appear at the door, their hair the same sandy color as Combeferre's, one slightly taller and lankier than the other. But they were smiling Combeferre's smile, and their eyes the same watery blue.   
"Di, get off of him." The shorter girl said, swatting the small girl's behind playfully. The one titled Di gave Combeferre's cheek a big peck before letting go and jumping down to stand next to her sisters.   
The three looked at the two men expectedly. Combeferre righted his glasses, grinning and cleared his throat.   
"Right, Jehan, these are my sisters, Diane," He pointed to the one who had been called 'Di', "Odette," This was the smaller of the two older, "Merlyn, and.." The man trailed off, seeming to peer behind them.   
"Brielle is out with her boyfriend." Odette offered, scrunching up her face a little. Combferre laughed, then turned to Jehan.   
"Brielle is the oldest of the brats." He clarified. Diane made an indignant whine, causing Jehan's lover to pat her head fondly.   
"Brats, this is my boyfriend, Jehan. Now where are the parentals?"  
"Parental units are in the kitchen, boss, they told us to get you." Merlyn sang, ushering them in. She offered her hand to Jehan as she closed the door. The girl was almost as tall as the ginger, and had thick looking glasses perched on her head, differentiating from her brother's circle wire rimmed ones.  
"Nice to meet you Jehan, welcome to the Combeferre Base."   
She had dimples when she smiled.   
Jehan returned her offered grin with one of his own and a firm shake. He turned to notice Combeferre had taken the bags and was gone.   
"Hi Jehan!" Diane crowed, grabbing the man's arm and clinging to it. Her head came to just under his shoulder, and her hair seemed a little lighter than her siblings'.   
"God Di, don't suffocate him." Odette exclaimed. Diane huffed, hugging the arm tighter to her and Jehan laughed.  
"I'm sorry for my sister." Merlyn offered, slowly guiding the other three towards an opening into a large tv/kitchen area, all white sleek and modern, quite the contrast to Enjolras's traditional house with it's old fashioned furniture and warm colored rooms. Combeferre was sitting on the kitchen island, in a low conversation with basically an older version of him. Jehan blinked at the two, shocked by the similarity between the two men. Catching sight of the four entering the area, Combeferre turned and grinned softly at them.   
"Dad, this is Jehan, my.. .Boyfriend. Jehan love, this is my dad, Mattieu." The man smiled warmly, and Jehan felt himself relax. Combeferre shared Mattieu's warm blue eyes, and his hand was warm when the poet it shook it, firm but kind.  
"It's very nice to meet you. I've heard quite a number of things from my son about you."  
"Mostly good, I hope."   
"Well, mostly." Mattieu laughed, and Combeferre flushed as Jehan joined in the laughter shyly.   
"Daddy where's mom." Diane interrupted, letting go of Jehan's arm to tug at her father's button up shirt. The man absently patted his daughter's head, shrugging.  
"Office, probably."   
"Don't bother her." Odette chided as the younger one dashed from the area, stumbling up the spiral staircase down the hall.  
"Jehan, you'll be staying in Julian's old room, is that alright?" Mattieu said. Jehan nodded. Mattieu smiled, "Great, okay. Odette, Merlyn, will you show Jehan around? I want to talk to Julian a little bit longer."  
Jehan gave Combeferre an uneasy look, but the man offered him a comforting smile and a gentle kiss to the head, making Merlyn emit a strangled cooing sound.  
Combeferre swiped an arm at her, and Mattieu laughed again. Jehan decided he liked the man's laugh. It was louder and more resounding than Combeferre's but still similar in sound.   
The two girls ran giggling, tugging a shy Jehan behind them.

 

 

 

 

Combeferre's mother had red curls and a nice smile, although her face was tired and worn. She was introduced as Giselle, and welcomed Jehan with a warm hug and a clever joke about her family's energy.  
"I don't know where they get it." She jokingly whined, pushing a jumping Diane away from her, "It's like we're feeding the girls only coffee or something. Which I'm not, I can assure you. They're even worse with caffine, believe it or not."  
She'd yelled at the girls to help her with dinner, which Jehan had attempted to take part in, but Giselle had waved away his attempts, instead making sure his glass of wine was full and that he was content. As Combeferre was still in heated discussion with his father about some science thing- Combeferre's father was, it appears, a science professor at the local college, and had been Combeferre's motive to study medicine- Jehan ended up talking to Giselle and Merlyn most of the time.   
"So Jehan, what do you like to do?" Giselle began as she sliced chicken, Merlyn taking the slices and coating them in breadcrumbs mixed with cheese then laying them on a hot pan.  
"I'm a writer.." Jehan began, and Giselle looked up, smiling.  
"Oh yeah? What do you write? You know we know quite a few writers, historians mostly, but we could probably get access to a publishing company if you'd like. I know quite a few back home."  
Home, it turned out, was Lithuania. Giselle's mother had been French, her reason for the French name and the moving here, where she'd met Mattieu and stayed. She knew a lot of poetry and artists, her favorite being Shelly, and Jehan found that he liked the women quite a bit, with her sharp humor and slight accent. Merlyn wanted to be a reporter, and Jehan gave a few tips for her writing and bounced a couple of school names between the three of them. He readily agreed when she asked him if he'd read her writing after dinner. 

 

 

 

While Odette and Diane were setting the table, the door slammed opened and closed and a girl rushed past to the staircase.   
"Brielle!" Giselle yelled when the girl had stomped upstairs. There came a muffled scream of a 'what' down the staircase. Giselle sighed and rubbed her forehead.   
"Brielle come say hello to your brother."   
There was more stomping and a girl appeared at the entrance, pouting and hair a red curly mess. She looked like her mother, but with Mattieu's eyes.   
"Hello to your brother." She muttered scowling, then turned to go back upstairs. Giselle made an exasperated sound.   
"Brielle. Brielle! Brie!" The women called, then huffed when the teenager slammed a door.  
"It's alright, I'll get her." Combeferre said, standing and making his way to the staircase. He passed Jehan and touched his lover's shoulder, "It might take a while, start without us, okay?"  
Jehan nodded as Giselle voiced her agreement, and Combferre kissed Jehan chastely. The poet leaned a little as his boyfriend pulled away, earning himself a smile and a gentle kiss to the forehead.

 

 

 

 

 

Dinner was fun. The three girls seemed to have a great relationship with their parents, talking as though they were really just a group of friends than a family, curses and joking insults thrown about the table, gossip about friends and distant family members a consent subject of discussion. When Giselle mentioned Jehan wrote poetry, Odette and Mattieu had voiced their own opinions on the subject, Mattieu reciting some Emily Dickinson upon Diane's request and Odette explaining how she preferred Edger Allen Poe's stories to his actual poetry, and then launching into a huge explination of one of said stories to Diane. Eventually Giselle put a stop to the subject as Odette had strayed into the psychological meaning behind various horror movies and, upon recognizing her sister's fear of such movies, began to describe various scenes in lavish detail.   
Jehan found himself envious of Combeferre as he sat here and watched these intellectual people converse and spread just pure knowledge.   
When he was younger, this was the type of family he'd wanted. He had wished for siblings with similar fascinations and well read parents who cared about the words he wrote down and enjoyed reading.   
Eventually Combeferre came down followed by Brielle, who seemed happier than before, although her eyes were rimmed and she seemed a little put out.   
When properly introduced, Brielle apologized for her behavior and sat down, nudging one of her sisters with a request to pass the potatos.   
Combeferre sat next to Jehan, and knocked their knees together.  
"You okay?" He said softly, leaning towards the smaller man. Jehan smiled brightly and nodded.   
"Better than ever."  
Combeferre nodded with a soft smile, threading their fingers before turning to Diane, who had been prodding for his attention and then began a story about how her friends had went firefly catching the night after school let out.   
As dinner flowed into desert, the conversation began to be directed at Jehan, retelling funny family stories about Combeferre muddling Brielle's name and thinking they were calling her Brie, like the cheese, thus the nickname, or how Giselle and Mattieu used to trick their kids into thinking various ridiculous things.   
"When Julian was about five, he used to listen to our conversations, and so I told him that if he kept listening to us he'd turn into an old man." Giselle laughed.   
"But we had this book-"   
"Oh that's right the book, I'd gotten Julian a Snow White picture book, but it was with realistic paintings, so they were actual dwarves, right-."  
"No but they were like really scary ugly dwarves, and jesus I got so scared-"  
"So he'd cover his ears every time we began talking!" Giselle finished, laughter interrupting her words.  
"It was horrifiying. You scarred me for life mother. I was never the same!" Combeferre cried dramatically, causing his sisters to giggle.   
Giselle shook her head, laughter quieting and took a sip of her wine, which had seemed ever flowing throughout the night.  
"Tell him about when Ivan and Marie said they were going to get married!" Diane exclaimed, grinning.   
Mattieu began laughing hard as everyone else started to giggled harder.   
"Oh god." Combeferre sighed, "They were crazy."  
He turned to Jehan, who was grinning silently.   
"So when we were in fifth grade Courfeyrac was in love with Marie, who had just moved here, and came up with this whole elaborate proposal plan. Cause he thought they were going to get married."  
"And he got everyone involved!" Diane giggled. Odette told her not to interrupt and Combeferre continued.   
"Yes, he asked Enjolras to get the whole class in on it, and we got this whole flashmob thing planned out, and little Brie, who was about one at the time, was going to give her the ring while Courfeyrac recited this whole speech."  
"Did it happen?"  
"Oh yeah, it went perfectly, and Marie accepted, and so they started planning the wedding."  
"He asked me to make him a suit, "like the ones they have in movies" he'd said." Giselle piped up, laughing.   
"Mom used to make the costumes for everything." Brie added.   
"Oh yeah, she always makes our Halloween costumes!" Diane added.   
"You're Halloween costume, excuse you." Odette sand. Diane stuck out her tongue at her sister, who returned the gesture.   
"Anyway," Combeferre finally continued, looking at them over his glasses, "They had a ceremony and everything. And then about a week later Marie decided Enjolras was prettier than Courfeyrac and demanded a divorce."  
"Of course, we all knew Enjolras was gay at that age, so it was absolutely adorable." Giselle sang.   
"Ivan came here crying after school and Giselle had been at some conference in Poland, so it was only me, and I had no idea what to do." Mattieu grinned, offering his tidbit of the story.  
"You tried to feed us really old fried pumpkin stuffing and chicken that week." Combeferre mused, and the whole table burst out laughing.   
"And Ivan and Davet had been there too." Mattieu added, Combeferre nodded with a chuckle.   
"They really wanted to leave, but they didn't want to be rude."   
"Davet never ate my cooking after that, did he?"  
"He avoided every meal you made."   
"Anyway," Giselle interrupted, "Marie then tried to seduce Davet."  
"Oh yeah, my god I forgot about that." Combeferre laughed, "Yeah she'd like leave love notes in his desk and gave him flowers."  
"How'd you know he was gay?" Jehan asked suddenly. Giselle blinked.   
"Oh god, it was obvious wasn't it?"   
"Yeah." Mattieu agreed, "He was always the princess."  
"Princess?" Jehan exclaimed.   
Enjorlas hated anything to do with monarchy.   
"Yeah, we used to play this game where the princess would try to overthrow the king and the queen with her suitors." Combeferre laughed, "We never told you about that?"  
"I think Courfeyrac started too once, but Enjolras dived to cover his mouth."  
"Oh yeah, and Bahorel spilled his beer in Enjolras's hair in result."  
Jehan snickered.   
"He was so pissed."  
"Who's Bahorel?" Odette called.  
"A friend." Combeferre replied.   
"You should tell us stories about your friends. Last time Ivan was over he had some great stories!" Merlyn sang.  
Combeferre looked at his boyfriend.   
"What do you think, what should we tell them?"  
"Well.." Jehan drawled thoughtfully, racking his brain for something fun but okay for Diane to hear, "There isn't much that's appropriate for dinner conversation?"  
All of the girls 'psh'ed and giggled.   
"There isn't anything inappropriate for dinner conversation." Diane laughed.   
"Not since the time mom got totally drunk and told us about how horrible dad is in bed." Merlyn added.   
"That was a terrible and scarring experience and I don't want to think about it." Odette muttered, causing the others to erupt into laughter again.   
"God, I don't remember that." Giselle mused.  
"I do." Combeferre grumbled.   
"I was not there." Mattieu announced contentedly, taking a swig of his beer.  
"Thank god!" Brielle cried, "Or it could have gotten worse!"


End file.
